TUNISIA, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Gasfa kilims are woven using a dovetail technique making them finer and more supple to handle. Their designs often incorporate rows of figurative people and camel trains flanked above and below with rows of geometric panelling and banding, (Alastair Hull and Jose Luczyc-Wyhowska, Kilim, The Complete Guide, London, 1993, p.95). A good example is illustrated by Clive Loveless in Hali 89, November 1996, p.119, which contains a camel train above and below a central row of decorative square panels. The present lot has a brighter variety of colours and uses rows of scrolling geometric banding instead of rows of camels.